Batter's Box Interactive Magazine - Reader Challenge: My Favorite Year

In the recent Bicentennial Men Hall of Names feature here on Batter's Box, which formed a fine All-Star team made up of big leaguers all born in the year 1976 a number of people stepped up with alternate all-year teams, and so we also met at least partial squads from, among others, 1957, 1959, 1980, 1982 and 1983. [Wednesday 7/5 Update: already added to this story are teams or partial teams for 1903, 1934, '35, 1945, '46, '47, '49, 1951, '55, '58, 1963, '64, '65, '66, 1970, '75, '77, '79 and 1981.]

Nice teams, one and all. But what's the very best year for producing big league talent? I'm going to set the bar pretty high with the year ...

... 1931.

Why 1931? Simple, really. I started with the one player I wanted to make sure was on the team, The Say Hey Kid, then at the genius of Sean Forman's BaseballReference.com, clicked on Mays' birth year, which was of course, 1931. After quickly scanning the list -- just 53 players overall, barely half the number (104) we had to choose from to build the '76 squad but including Cooperstown names like Banks, Bunning, Mantle and Mathews -- I figured this team might be okay.

Can you do better? Feel free to give it a try and post it here. But first, get a load of this squad, definitely with two scoops of power, it's time to meet ...

The 31 Flavors
** indicates Hall of Famer
* indicates All-Star

LINEUP
C Ed Bailey* (.256 in 14 seasons)
1B Bob Skinner* (.277, 103 homers in 12 years)
2B Frank Bolling* (.254 in 12 seasons)
SS Ernie Banks** (512 homers)
3B Ken Boyer* (.287, 5 GG in 15 seasons)
LF Mickey Mantle** (536 homers)
CF Willie Mays** (660 homers)
RF Joe Cunningham* (.291 in 12 years)
DH Eddie Mathews** (512 homers)

BENCH
C Earl Averill (.242 in seven seasons)
IF Ken Aspromonte (.249 in seven seasons)
IF Charlie Neal* (.259 in eight seasons)
OF Chuck Essegian (.255 in six seasons)
OF Whitey Herzog (.257 in eight seasons)
UTIL Don Zimmer* (.235 in 12 seasons)

ROTATION
RHSP Jim Bunning** (224-184)
RHSP Larry Jackson* (194-183)
RHSP Tom Brewer* (91-82)
LHSP Karl Spooner (10-6, 1954-55)
RHSP Russ Kemmerer (43-59)

BULLPEN
CL-RH Ed Roebuck (52-31, 62 saves)
LHRP Hank Aguirre* (75-72, 33 saves)
RHRP Dave Sisler (38-44, 29 saves)
LHRP Marshall Bridges (23-15, 25 saves)
RHRP Don Bessent (14-7, 12 saves)

Notes ... That's right, every single player in the starting lineup, and a couple on the bench, not to mention several pitchers, made at least one All-Star team ... Who manages this team? Well, check those last two names on the bench again and ask yourself, with that kind of brainpower, does this team really need a manager? ...

That's right, Mathews is the DH so the five-time Gold Glove winner Boyer can man the hot corner ... And yes, Mantle returns to LF, where he spent his rookie year with the Yankees in deference to Joe DiMaggio, only this time it is in deference to the greatest CF who ever played the game, Mays ... Both Mathews and Boyer, as well as Aspromonte, also managed in the big leagues ...

Sure, the starting pitching is a little thin after the front three, but the 3-4-5-6 hitters in the lineup combined for 2,220 career homers, so giving the ball to Karl Spponer everyone once in a while isn't going to be a bad thing ... And though the bullpen doesn't have the single Eckersley-like star to anchor it anywhere, the five-deep relief corps is splendid from one to five, with any one of them capable of taking the ball in the ninth or making a spot start if Kemmerer can't go ...

So seriously, is it possible to find a year that produced a team better than the '31s?

Posted by Mick Doherty on Sunday, July 02 2006 @ 04:00 PM EDT.

Reader Challenge: My Favorite Year | 34 comments | Create New Account

The following comments are owned by whomever posted them. This site is not responsible for what they say.

Rob - Sunday, July 02 2006 @ 04:40 PM EDT (#150107) #

I think you're selling 1970 short, Mick. John Mabry, Aaron Sele, Paul Shuey, Bobby Higginson, Alberto Castillo, Joey Hamilton...well, maybe not. Carry on.

Mike Green - Sunday, July 02 2006 @ 05:17 PM EDT (#150108) #

I don't know if they can compete with the 31s, but the 63s look good to me:

Rotation: Randy Johnson, David Cone, David Wells, Chris Bosio, Jeff Fassero
Bullpen: Bryan Harvey, Bobby Thigpen, Jeff Brantley, Terry Mulholland, Norm Charlton

Infield: McGriff, Bip Roberts, Dunston/Weiss, Caminiti/Edgar Martinez
Outfield: O'Neill, Dykstra, Bonilla/Daniels
DH-McGwire
Catching-Mike Stanley/Karkovice

Cecil Fielder is available for pinch-hitting duties, or to DH in the event that McGwire runs afoul of the rules of the game.

King Ryan - Sunday, July 02 2006 @ 05:31 PM EDT (#150109) #

I present to you...team PED...er...team 1964:

LINEUP

C Mark Macfarlane
1B Rafael Palmeiro
2B Jose Lind
SS Barry Larkin
3B Jeff King
LF Barry Bonds
CF Ellis Burks
RF Jose Canseco
DH Will Clark

BENCH

C/UTIL BJ Surhoff
IF Mark Grace
IF Ozzie Guillen (Player/Manager? : ) )
OF Brady Anderson
OF Jay Buhner

ROTATION

SP Bret Saberhagen
SP Dwight Gooden
SP Kenny Rogers
SP Kevin Tapani
SP John Burkett

BULLPEN

LS Mitch Williams
MI Mike Fetters
MI Mike Jackson
SU Rob Dibble
SU Roberto Hernandez
CL Duane Ward

A full 25-man roster!

We have power at the corners, defense up the middle, and a terrific bench. A pretty standard rotation and bullpen, though.

Mike Green - Sunday, July 02 2006 @ 05:33 PM EDT (#150110) #

Actually the (When I'm) 64s might be better:

Outfield: Canseco, Brady Anderson/Ellis Burks, Barry Bonds
Infield: Will Clark, Mark McLemore, Barry Larkin, Surhoff/Jeff King
Catching- Mike MacFarlane, Tom Lampkin
DH-Rafael Palmeiro
Bench-Ozzie Guillen, Jay Buhner, Mark Grace

Rotation- Gooden, Saberhagen, Kenny Rogers, Kevin Tapani, John Burkett
Bullpen- Duane Ward, Rob Dibble, Mitch Williams, Roberto Hernandez, Mike Fetters (now, that would be an interesting bullpen- nobody light a match!)

Ozzie would manage, under the stipulation that for every time Bonds, Canseco, Clark or Palmeiro was ordered to sacrifice, Guillen's pay would be docked $10,000.

Mick Doherty - Sunday, July 02 2006 @ 05:34 PM EDT (#150111) #

Incidentally, instead of "My Favorite Year," I almost entitled this "Willie, Mickey and the Zim," but wasn't sure that was really fair to Duke Snider.

Mike Green - Sunday, July 02 2006 @ 05:36 PM EDT (#150112) #

Now, that makes for an interesting discussion. Chico Lind vs. Mark McLemore at second base? Gentlemen, make your cases!

Mike Green - Sunday, July 02 2006 @ 05:40 PM EDT (#150113) #

Well, I checked Baseball Prospectus' WARP ratings. Lind was somewhat better than McLemore at his peak, but, of course, McLemore has more career value. You'd probably want both on your club.

Mick Doherty - Sunday, July 02 2006 @ 05:47 PM EDT (#150114) #

Now, Rob, you've omitted Jim Thome, Jim Edmonds, Eddie Guardado and Javy Lopez from the That '70 Show team roster, so all is not lost. But the starting pitching, yeah ... Helling, Rueter, Byrd, Lieber, Sele, Alvarez ... you're not looking at the front four of the '54 Indians or the '72 Orioles coming out of that group.

King Ryan - Sunday, July 02 2006 @ 06:28 PM EDT (#150115) #

Good point. Should probably add McLemore to my roster and drop one of the relievers.

Anyway...here's a team with slightly better pitching:

Team 1966

LINEUP

C Sandy Alomar
1B John Jaha
2B Mickey Morandini
SS Jerry Browne
3B Dave Hollins
LF David Justice
CF Moises Alou
RF Larry Walker
DH Albert Belle

BENCH

C Darrin Fletcher
IF Terry Shumpert
IF Bill Spiers
OF Jeff Conine
OF Orlando Merced
UTIL David Segui

ROTATION

SP Greg Maddux
SP Tom Glavine
SP Curt Schilling
SP Jack McDowell
SP Tim Wakefield

BULLPEN

LR Mike Remlinger
MI Gregg Olsen
MI Mike Timlin
SU Jeff Nelson
CL John Wetteland

Mick Doherty - Sunday, July 02 2006 @ 07:09 PM EDT (#150116) #

King Ryan, 1966 is a year I've looked at since it's my birth year, and I am pretty much in agreement -- but I think maybe Scott Brosius at 3B in place of Hollins, Jeff Frye bumping Shumpert off the roster -- and maybe even starting at short in front of Browne, which is the weak link on the team -- and as much as it gives me heartburn to think about it, you have to have Jose Mesa, he of 319 saves and counting, in the bullpen somewhere. We'll continue to leave Heathcliff Slocumb off the roster so we only have the one fans' heart attack in uniform ... Mel Rojas, Dave Veres and Bob Wells were among the other really fine relievers born in '66. You also have Woody Williams, Pete Harnisch and Dave Burba to choose from for the rotation, if Wakefield can be bumped back to the bullpen.

It was a very good year!

Pepper Moffatt - Sunday, July 02 2006 @ 07:24 PM EDT (#150118) #

I haven't come up with a roster, but the 1977 5-man rotation of Roy Halladay, Mark Mulder, Roy Oswalt, Kerry Wood, and A.J. Burnett seems pretty hard to beat. Plus there's always Bronson Arroyo, Adam Eaton, Mike Maroth, Vincente Padilla, Odalis Perez, Josh Towers, Kip Wells, and Jake Westbrook to cover for Wood's inevitable injury.

Mike Green - Sunday, July 02 2006 @ 07:47 PM EDT (#150119) #

The 77s might look like this

C- Ben Davis
1B- Lyle Overbay
2B- Orlando Hudson/Brian Roberts
SS- Rafael Furcal
3B- Eric Chavez
LF- Brad Wilkerson
CF-Andruw Jones
RF- Carlos Beltran
DH- Travis Hafner

Bench- Alex Gonzalez (the other) or Jack Wilson, Eric Hinske, Juan Pierre, Brandon Inge to catch in a pinch

Rotation- as per Pepper
Bullpen- Danys Baez, Jason Frasor, Mike MacDougal, Odalis Perez and one of the other leftover starters.

The defence would be spectacular, with five Gold Glove quality defenders and two other good ones.

Pepper Moffatt - Sunday, July 02 2006 @ 07:56 PM EDT (#150120) #

Team '77

ORDER
1. CF-L Juan Pierre 305/355/375
2. SS-B Rafael Furcal 284/348/409
3. DH-L Travis Hafner 293/388/556
4. LF-B Carlos Beltran 282/350/479
5. 3B-L Eric Chavez 275/350/496
6. RF-R Andruw Jones 267/342/503
7. 1B-L Lyle Overbay 285/373/450
8. 2B-B Brian Roberts 278/344/402
9. C-R Dave Ross 217/288/406

BENCH
OF-R Aaron Rowand 283/337/457
IF-R Jack Wilson 263/304/368
UT-L Eric Hinske 258/335/430
C-R Brandon Inge 238/299/379
1B-L Brad Wilkerson 256/365/452
IF Pick 'em - Mark Ellis/Adam Everett/Orlando Hudson/D'Angelo Jimenez/Ty Wigginton

ROTATION
1. SP-R Roy Oswalt 83-39 3.07 ERA
2. SP-R Roy Halladay 79-43 3.70 ERA
3. SP-L Mark Mulder 97-50 3.87 ERA
4. SP-R Kerry Wood 70-53 3.67 ERA
5. SP-R A.J. Burnett 49-50 3.73 ERA

BULLPEN
1. CL-R Dannys Baez 3.69ERA 102SV
2. SET-R Mike MacDougal 3.97 ERA 49SV
3. SET-R Ryan Dempster 4.83 ERA 35SV
4. LONG-L Odalis Perez 52-51 4.07ERA
5. LONG-R Vincente Padilla 51-51 3.95ERA

The bullpen isn't spectacular, and this team needs another catcher badly. But they've got some pop, great D, particularly in the outfield, and one heck of a rotation.

CeeBee - Sunday, July 02 2006 @ 07:56 PM EDT (#150121) #

!951, the year I was born. Not a great team but probably not all that bad either.

C - Jim Sundberg

1B - Dave Parker

2B - Rennie Stennett

3B - Buddy Bell

SS - Rick Burleson

OF - Dwight Evans

OF - Dave Winfield

OF - Cesar Cedeno

DH - Jeff Burroughs

Spares:

C - Alan Ashby, IF - Bucky Dent, IF - Bill Madlock, IF - Derrell Thomas, OF - Al Cowens, IF - Dan Driessen

Starting pitchers:

Bert Blyleven

Mike Flanagan

Don Gullett

Dennis Leonard

Dick Ruthven

Bullpen:

Rich Gossage

Greg Minton

Sid Monge

Don Stanhouse

Vern Ruhle

Mick Doherty - Sunday, July 02 2006 @ 08:14 PM EDT (#150122) #

Actually, I like that '51 team quite a bit.

Pepper, wouldn't Ben Davis be your '77 starting catcher, moving Ross to the bench? And I'd think about Marcus Thames for a bench spot, too, with the way he's come on this season.

Mike Green - Sunday, July 02 2006 @ 10:09 PM EDT (#150127) #

The 1935 club carries 3 catchers, because the starters wear out their mitts (and because they've got better bats than the outfielders):

ROTATION
SP- Bob Gibson
SP- Sandy Koufax
SP- Bob Veale
SP- Jim Perry
SP- Joey Jay

BULLPEN
RP- Lindy McDaniel
RP- Larry Sherry
RP- Moe Drabowsky
RP- Terry Fox
RP- Mudcat Grant
RP- Ernie Broglio (Jay pitched more in relief than Broglio so you could switch 'em)

BATTING ORDER
3B- Tony Taylor
CF- Don Demeter
LF- Felipe Alou
RF- Frank Robinson
C- Earl Battey
1B- Donn Clendenon
DH- Gene Oliver
2B- Bobby Richardson
SS- Jose Pagan

BENCH
Russ Nixon, Dick Schofield Sr., Joe Christopher, Fred Valentine, Marty Keough

Bob Gibson is 71 years old. Wow. Time passes.

smcs - Sunday, July 02 2006 @ 11:03 PM EDT (#150130) #

Team '75

Lineup
C - Rod Barajas
1B - Derrek Lee*
2B - Luis Castillo*
SS - Alex Rodriguez*
3B - Scott Rolen*
LF - Jacque Jones
CF - Torii Hunter*
RF - J.D. Drew
DH - David Ortiz*

Bench
C - Jose Molina!
Mid IF - Placido Polanco
Mid IF - David Eckstein*
Cor IF - Shea Hillenbrand*
OF - Richard Hidalgo
OF - Mark Kotsay

Rotation
SP - Chris Carpenter*
SP - Freddy Garcia*
SP - Livan Hernandez*
SP - Tim Hudson*
SP - Eric Milton*

Bullpen
CL - Francisco Cordero*
RP - B.J. Ryan*
RP - Danny Kolb*
RP - Scot Shields
RP - Kiko Calero

Left off the roster:
Matt LeCroy, Chad Moeller, Toby Hall, Brad Fullmer, Travis Lee, Ronnie Belliard, Julio Lugo, Edgar Renteria, Morgan Ensberg, Carlos Guillen, Gabe Kapler, Daryle Ward, Rodrigo Lopez, Jeff Suppan, Victor Zambrano

kinguy - Sunday, July 02 2006 @ 11:22 PM EDT (#150132) #

Presenting the Class of '55...a little thin in the infield, but a lot of good outfielders and solid pitching.

C Mike Heath
1B Jack Clark
2B Damaso Garcia
SS Robin Yount
3B Mickey Hatcher
OF Willie Wilson
OF Chet Lemon
OF Lonnie Smith
DH Jeffrey Leonard

Bench
C Bruce Benedict
IF Lee Mazzilli
IF Juan Bonilla
OF Ruppert Jones
OF Dwayne Murphy

SP Jack Morris
SP Dennis Martinez
SP Floyd Bannister
SP Mike Scott
SP Bryn Smith

CL Jeff Reardon
RP Dave Smith
RP Jay Howell
RP Ron Davis
RP Ted Power
RP Greg Harris

MGR Jim Tracy
Coach Bruce Bochy
Coach Ned Yost
P Coach Gil Patterson

Several ex-Jays, including Jim Clancy, Jerry Garvin and certified nutcase Mark Lemongello, as well as 1980 AL ROY Joe Charboneau missed the cut.

The Bone - Monday, July 03 2006 @ 01:37 AM EDT (#150134) #

Celebrating my birth year, here are the 1981 All Stars

#1: Curtis Granderson, CF
#2: Carl Crawford, LF
#3: Alex Rios, RF
#4: Justin Morneau, 1B
#5: Rocco Baldelli, DH
#6: Mike Napoli, C
#7: Wilson Betemit, 3B*
#8: Brandon Phillips, 2B
#9: Omar Infante, SS

Bench:
C: Chris Snyder
IF: Jose Castillo
IF: Mark Teahen
OF: Jeremy Reed
OF: Joey Gathright

SP: Carlos Zambrano
SP: Rich Harden
SP: Jake Peavy
SP: Jeff Francis
SP: Daniel Cabrera/Anthony Reyes

CL: Bobby Jenks
RP: Adam Wainwright
RP: Jesse Crain
RP: Oscar Villarreal
LRP: Jimmy Gobble
LRP: Chuck James

*Wilson Betemit is a 1981 on Baseball Reference but a 1980 on espn.com. If he "aged" a year recently, then Teahen will have to move in at 3B (unless Phillips or Castillo can play the position) and Wily Taveras or Victor Diaz will join the roster

Jeremy - Monday, July 03 2006 @ 06:21 PM EDT (#150153) #

Presenting the Class of '79

Starters

1B Ryan Howard
2B Luis Rivas
3B Adrian Beltre
SS Juan Uribe
LF Adam Dunn
CF Corey Patterson
RF Coco Crisp
C Juan Brito

Bench:
Adam LaRoche
Michael Cuddyer
Khalil Greene
Jayson Werth
Luis A. Gonzalez
Hee Seop Choi

Rotation:
Johan Santana
Mark Buehrle
Jon Garland
Brandon Webb
Carlos Silva

Bullpen:
CL Jorge Julio
SET B-H Kim
REL Brandon Lyon
REL Jeremy Affeldt
REL Jose Valverde
REL Juan Rincon

Mike Green - Monday, July 03 2006 @ 07:26 PM EDT (#150155) #

The '03 (Dog Nights) feature more Hall of Famers than you can shake a stick at:

IN THE FIELD

C- Mickey Cochrane
1B- Lou Gehrig
2B- Charlie Gehriinger
SS- Travis Jackson
3B- Tony Lazzeri
LF- Paul Waner
CF- Mule Haas
RF- Babe Herman/Chick Hafey

BENCH

Rabbit Warstler, Dale Alexander, Roy Johnson, Jersey Joe Stripp, Walt Lerian

ROTATION

SP- Carl Hubbell
SP- Curt Davis
SP- Jim Turner
SP- Bill Walker
SP- John Niggeling (I'd be changing my name with that one)

BULLPEN

RP- Clint Brown
RP- Mike Ryba
RP- Don Brennan
RP- Bob Osborn
RP- Steve Swetonic

The 03s will score a whack of runs. Carl Hubbell would probably go 31-4, or something like that, as Grove did with the great Athletic teams.

Mick Doherty - Tuesday, July 04 2006 @ 11:23 AM EDT (#150180) #

Well, we have teams for 1955 and 1975 (not to mention 1935) and teams for 1964 and 1966 -- seems like we just blew off 1965, so here we go ...

All-1965
Only position players who appeared in at least 1000 career games were considered.
* indicates All-Star
** indicates projected Hall of Famer

Lineup
C Benito Santiago* (.263, 217 homers)
1B Hal Morris (.304)
2B Craig Biggio** (.285, 260 homers)
SS Jay Bell* (.265, 195 homers)
3B Matt Williams* (.268, 378 homers)
LF Ron Gant* (.256, 302 homers)
CF Steve Finley* (.273, 297 homers)
RF Ruben Sierra* (.268, 317 homers)
DH Greg Vaughn* (.242, 355 homers)

Bench
C Chris Hoiles (.262, 151 homers)
1B Paul Sorrento (.257, 166 homers)
3B Charlie Hayes (.262, 144 homers)
IF Mike Bordick* (.260)
OF Glenallen Hill (.271, 186 homers)
UTIL Jeff Blauser* (.262)

Rotation
SP Kevin Brown* (211-144)
SP Al Leiter* (162-132)
SP Orlando Hernandez (70-49)
SP Jose Rijo* (116-91)
SP John Smiley* (126-103)

Bullpen
CL Steve Olin (48 saves leads '65ers)
RP Buddy Groom (31-32, 27 saves)
RP Mark Guthrie (51-54, 14 saves)
RP Al Osuna (18-10, 14 saves)
RP Steve Reed (49-44, 18 saves)

Among Those Not Making the Cut ...
SP Ken Hill* (117-109)
SP Erik Hanson* (89-84)
SP Greg Swindell* (123-122)
SP Todd Stottlemyre (138-121)
SP Steve Sparks (59-76)
RP Xavier Hernandez (40-35, 35 saves)
C Kirt Manwaring (.246)
C Joe Oliver (.247, 102 homers)
IF Joey Cora* (.277)

Mike Green - Tuesday, July 04 2006 @ 11:59 AM EDT (#150184) #

The (Stars on) '45 have an appropriately disco era feel to them:

THE LINEUP

C-   Dave Duncan
1B- Rick Monday
2B- Rod Carew
SS- Larry Bowa
3B- Bill Melton
RF- Tony Conigliaro
CF- Reggie Smith
LF- Ralph Garr
DH- Hal McRae

THE BENCH

C-   George Mitterwald
IF-   Davey Lopes
IF-   Ted Sizemore
OF- Bobby Tolan
OF- Jay Johnstone

THE ROTATION

SP- Jim Palmer
SP- Don Sutton
SP- Andy Messersmith
SP- Ken Holtzman
SP- Dock Ellis

THE BULLPEN

RP- Dick Drago
RP- Horacio Pina
RP- Tom Murphy
RP- Blue Moon Odom
RP- Rick Wise

Nice club, with a great rotation. There's a real Dodger presence with Sutton, Messersmith, Smith, Lopes and Monday. And no, they did not all play together. Smith arrived in '76 and Messersmith famously departed after the '75 season.

Bruce Wrigley - Tuesday, July 04 2006 @ 12:40 PM EDT (#150189) #

The 1947s have a very odd balance problem, with four of the modern era's best catchers competing for playing time. Tons of catchers and third basemen on this team... I found spots for catchers Bench, Boone, Fisk and Munson but also having four good third basemen (Evans, Hebner, Money and Aurelio Rodriguez) forced me to juggle the lineup a bit. Lots of bats - I had to cut John Lowenstein, Cliff Johnson, Al Bumbry, Jim Spencer. This team really does have seven thousand third basemen... guys like Bill Stein and

Wayne Garrett is really also a third baseman, but other than Money was the best second sacker of the lot. This team is really weak in the middle infield. And not only does it have four almost identical outfielders, four third basemen and four All-Star catchers, it has two sidearming relievers.

LINEUP
C Johnny Bench**
1B Darrell Evans*
2B Wayne Garrett
SS Roger Metzger
3B Don Money*
LF Jose Cruz*
CF Amos Otis*
RF Ken Singleton*
DH Carlton Fisk**

BENCH
C Bob Boone*
IF Aurelio Rodriguez
IF Richie Hebner
OF Bernie Carbo
OF Larry Hisle*
UTIL Thurman Munson*

ROTATION
RHSP Nolan Ryan**
LHSP Larry Gura*
RHSP Joe Coleman*
RHSP Bob Moose
RHSP Steve Stone*

BULLPEN
CL-RH Kent Tekulve*
LHRP Tom Hall
RHRP Gene Garber
LHRP Tom House
RHRP Dick Tidrow

Mike Green - Tuesday, July 04 2006 @ 01:45 PM EDT (#150191) #

With the 47s, I'd really try to get Hebner's bat in the lineup, at least as a platoon player with Money. Money was a shortstop in his first full season, so alternatively you could try Evans at third, Money at short, Garrett at second and Hebner at first.

Mick Doherty - Tuesday, July 04 2006 @ 01:54 PM EDT (#150192) #

The '47s -- or maybe the '46s, which I don't think anyone has done yet -- would be the first post-WWII Baby Boom team, I think?

Not sure that matters in any case, but interesting to consider. A larger population to draw from?

Jeremy - Tuesday, July 04 2006 @ 04:07 PM EDT (#150196) #

You could make a decent rotation for the '46 team, with Catfish Hunter, Mike Torrez, Paul Splittorff, Larry Dierker and Bill Lee (or Ken Forsch). I'd guess Rollie Fingers would be the closer.

I'd put Bobby Bonds and Reggie Jackson in the outfield, along with one of Bobby Murcer, Joe Rudi or Al Oliver.

I'm not sure what I'd do about the infield though. Bob Watson and Nate Colbert are a decent pair of first baseman (you could put Oliver there too, I guess), but Ken Boswell is the best second baseman I found, and after that I just gave up.

Mick Doherty - Tuesday, July 04 2006 @ 04:18 PM EDT (#150198) #

Jeremy, that's a great start. I guess Gene Tenace or Joe Ferguson catches, while Jerry Terrell could play one of the middle infield spots. I see Billy Grabarkewitz. a one-time All-Star could probably play across the keystone from Terrell.

Pedro Borbon Sr. and Skip Lockwood could set up Fingers while Gary Gentry and Danny Frisella (RIP) both had effective careers shortened by injury and tragedy, respectively.

It's a pretty good club! And two of my all-time favorite players, Joe Lis and Ken Henderson, could battle for bench spots.

Mike Green - Tuesday, July 04 2006 @ 04:27 PM EDT (#150199) #

When checking on the '46s, I ran into this guy. Another player for the Hail! Hail! Rock'n'Roll club. Art Howe would play third base for the club, with Grabarkewitz at second, I think.

Jeremy - Tuesday, July 04 2006 @ 04:32 PM EDT (#150200) #

Just giving a cursory glance to the '34 team (Hank Aaron), and it's a good thing you could have Aparicio, Clemente, Norm Cash, Bob Allison and Kaline (and even Roger Maris) in addition to the Hammer for offense...because I'd have a devil of a time trying to string together a pitching staff. Camilo Pascual (174-170, 3.63 ERA) and Earl Wilson (121-109, 3.69) are all right, but Turk Farrell (106-111, 3.45) is the only other pitcher from this year to win 100 games, and he also has the most saves of any pitcher from this year, with 83.

Mike Green - Tuesday, July 04 2006 @ 04:59 PM EDT (#150202) #

How about the 49ers?

THE LINEUP

C- Ted Simmons*
1B- Cecil Cooper*
2B- Bobby Grich*
SS- Frank Tavares
3B- Mike Schmidt**
LF- Ben Ogilvie*
CF- Garry Maddox
RF- Don Baylor*
DH- Andre Thronton*

THE BENCH

C- Rick Dempsey
IF- John Mayberry*
IF- Phil Garner*
OF- Dusty Baker*
OF- George Hendrick*

THE ROTATION

RHSP- Steve Rogers*
LHSP- Vida Blue*
RHSP- Rick Reuschel*
LHSP- Jerry Reuss*
RHSP- Mike Caldwell

THE BULLPEN

LHCL - Gary Lavelle*
RHSET- Doug Bair
LH SET- Al Hrabosky (amazingly, not an All-Star in 1975)
RHRP- Jim Kern*
RHRP- Roger Moret

The offence is very good, with power from 8 spots in the lineup, and the starting pitching is excellent, while the bullpen is merely OK. In the minors, waiting for a call, would be Mike Hargrove, Oscar Gamble, and Richie Zisk.

Craig B - Tuesday, July 04 2006 @ 10:53 PM EDT (#150215) #

The Fifty-Eights...

LINEUP
C Mike Scioscia*
1B Pete O'Brien
2B Bill Doran (MVP votes in three different years, but never an All-Star)
SS Alan Trammell*
3B Wade Boggs* (surely a HOF this year)
LF Rickey Henderson* (again, surely a HOF to be)
CF Willie McGee*
RF Von Hayes*
DH Julio Franco*

BENCH
C Don Slaught
IF Scott Fletcher
IF Dickie Thon*
OF Dave Henderson*
OF Ron Kittle*
UTIL Gary Gaetti*

ROTATION
RHSP Orel Hershiser*
LHSP Bruce Hurst*
LHSP Teddy Higuera*
RHSP Dan Petry*
RHSP Walt Terrell

BULLPEN
CL-LH Dave Righetti*
LHRP Steve Howe*
RHRP Bob James
LHRP Atlee Hammaker*
RHRP Neil Allen

This is a pretty good team. Not everyone here was built to last but there's some talent to burn.

Mick Doherty - Tuesday, July 04 2006 @ 11:38 PM EDT (#150217) #

3B Wade Boggs* (surely a HOF this year)

Craig, I thought I might be losing my mind, so triple-checked, but Boggs was elected in 2005!

Trammell should be in the Hall, of course, and Franco will probably get a fair number of votes from senior voters who remember him from his days with the Indians back when they were in grade school.

Geoff - Wednesday, July 05 2006 @ 12:16 AM EDT (#150218) #

So you are assuming that Franco will retire.

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